Star Crossed
by Capstar98
Summary: A new mission on a planet struck with revolution will have Jim Kirk facing demons he thought he had put behind him long ago. When he meets an old acquaintance, Jim will have to struggle to make to toughest choice of his life.
1. Chapter 1

Leonard McCoy was on a mission. He had already searched the ship once for his disappearing pain-in-the-ass captain, and so far had been met with only a crumbling bread trail as to where he really was. The bridge crew said he was in engineering, engineering said he was in the science department, and the science department said he was in the mess hall. But Jim wasn't in any of these places. There was only one place left to check.

He knocked on the door of Jim's quarters loudly and listened for movement on the other side. Leonard heard a soft rustling of movement and cursed the thought that he hadn't looked here first. He had asked for Jim to get some rest, he just didn't believe that his friend would actually listen to him.

The door slid open to Jim's tired face. It annoyed McCoy to no end that even though they were on a run of the mill milk run – delivering meds to ships and planets in the Lega system, which had been suffering under the effects of a virus – Jim seemed more tired than ever. His paperwork, which had been piling up for the last several weeks because of some more exciting landing missions, was now being rushed to be completed.

Jim stepped back and walked back over to his desk, which was piled up with PADDs. He sighed. "Bones, I know what you're gonna say. I just don't have the time right now, okay?"

McCoy scowled. "Yeah, that's not gonna be good enough. You might be busy, but so am I. I had to go looking all over this damn ship just to find you."

"And whose fault is that? You told me to go to my quarters, so I did."

"I _told _you to get some rest. Which this does not look much like," McCoy growled, gesturing towards the desk.

Jim pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers, and McCoy's gaze softened for a moment. Usually when he did that it meant he was suffering from one hell of a migraine. But then he remembered that it probably wouldn't have affected him as much if he'd done as McCoy had asked him and slept, and he crossed his hands over his chest. "Please, Bones, I –"

"Yeah, I get it. I'm only your doctor. No need to listen to me." Jim looked up at him, opening his mouth to respond, but McCoy cut him off before he could start. "Look, I only came here to give you this." He pulled out a hypo from his med bag, and Jim pushed his chair away. McCoy rolled his eyes. "It's just a vaccine. The one for the virus. Almost everyone on the ship's got it except for you."

What McCoy wasn't going to tell him was that it was mixed with a light painkiller. After the events on the last planet Jim had broken a few ribs, and while they were healing fine, he knew they had to be a bitch. And the last thing Jim was going to do was ask for help.

Jim ran a hand through his hair. "Fine. Just… get it over with, will you?" McCoy stepped forwards, and before Jim could even react the vaccine was in his bloodstream.

He put the empty cartridge in his bag and looked at Jim for a moment, who was looking back at him now with a steely gaze. They stayed that way for a moment until McCoy asked, "By the way, when's the last time you ate? You look horrible."

"Aww, thanks Bones. I live for your compliments. Light of my day."

"Don't try to get out of this. I better see you at dinner."

"Yeah, love you too," Jim chirped, suddenly seeming a little lest tired. Probably the painkillers doing their job. The younger man turned back to his desk and picked up a PADD.

"Bitch," McCoy muttered, shaking his head as he exited. But before he could even leave the room, he heard the beep that meant a message was coming in for Jim from the bridge.

"Kirk here," Jim said after he had answered the call.

"_Captain,_" McCoy heard Spock's voice. "_Your presence is needed on the bridge. We have just received a new mission from Starfleet._"

"Understood," Kirk replied. "I'll be up there in a minute." He ended the transmission and looked up at McCoy. "Better come with, Bones. Spock sounded pretty tight."

"He always sounds tight. And what happened to the directive we're supposed to be doing?"

Jim grinned. "At least I won't have to deal with any of this shit anymore," he said, looking down at the desk. An excited glint was shining in his eye.

"You're gonna have to do it eventually."

"Nah, I'll just have Spock do it. He hates it when things are late."

McCoy shrugged, and allowed himself to be pulled into the hall with his friend.


	2. Chapter 2

Hi everybody! This is my first ever attempt at fanfiction, so... i'll take any critiques ya got. Just to let you know, I'm not sure how often this will be updating. I'll try for twice a week, but it might be more, might be less. Exams are coming up. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! :)

* * *

Jim stepped onto the bridge, walking up to where Spock was sitting in the captain's chair. Once seeing him, Spock rose from the chair and met him at the base of the stairs.

"Captain," he said, "Admiral Marcus is awaiting your hail. He wishes to discuss the mission with you."

"Alright. Uhura, can you get him on the line?"

"Already on it, sir," Uhura replied with a swish of her ponytail.

Jim sat down in his favorite chair and only had to wait a few moments before Admiral Marcus' face appeared on screen. "Admiral," he greeted.

"Captain Kirk," Marcus replied with a nod. "As your first may have informed you, we've got a new mission for you."

"Yes sir. He just told me."

"We know you're in the Lega system, delivering meds."

"That's right, sir."

"Have you heard of a planet M-342? It's more commonly referred to as Georgianna."

Jim looked back at Spock, who informed him, "Georgianna is a planet close to our location. We are scheduled to deliver them medications for the virus two days from now."

"Well," Marcus said, shifting in his seat, "We need you to skip up to them. There's quite a problem going on down there. To put it shortly, a man named Fathigh Kabul has waged a revolution. He's taken the capital city as a hostage, and claims that he'll blow up everyone in it if he doesn't get what he needs."

"And what's that?" Kirk asked.

"He wants full control of the planet with our assistance, entrance to the federation, and the export of all dilithium crystals to be redirected to Georgianna."

"That's all?" Jim muttered sarcastically. Marcus continued talking.

"You're the closest, and frankly the most well suited to deal with this. All we need you to do at the moment is arrange to speak with Kabul. Get him to talk about his plans, learn the extent of his power, and then report back to us. We'll tell you where to take it from there."

"Yes, sir."

"Kirk," Marcus said, and Jim looked back up at him. "Georgianna has a history of violence, and of dealings with the Romulans. We don't want them a part of the federation if we can help it." Jim nodded, and Marcus looked to the side before the transmission was cut.

"Spock?" Jim called out.

"Yes, sir."

"How far are we from Georgianna?"

"25.3 hours away travelling at Warp 3."

"Great. Bones – "

"He's gone downstairs, sir," Uhura informed him. "There was an accident on Deck 6 – one of the engineers punctured a lung, and they needed his assistance in surgery."

Jim nodded, and pulled out a PADD. He'd need to read up on Georgianna before he said anything more.

* * *

Three hours later, and Jim had gone through everything he could think of in regards to Georgianna and to the resistance leader Kabul. There hadn't been much, but it would have to do. He stood and handed control back to Spock. His head felt like it was about to explode again, and he was constantly bringing his fingers up to the bridge of his nose, willing his brain to take a chill pill already. He walked down to the mess hall and looked around for Bones, spotting him at their usual table in the far corner. Bringing over a tray of replicated beef stew and cherry pie, he sat across from his friend.

"'Bout time you showed up," Bones said through the sandwich in his mouth. He looked down at Jim's plate and raised an eyebrow before flicking a carrot over from his tray to Jim's. "Nice food combo," he commented before taking another bite.

"You know it," he responded. "It's all about sensory mapping."

Bones rolled his eyes. "So what did Marcus want? I had to leave before he actually said anything."

"Oh, yeah. There's this planet, Georgianna, and we're supposed to go down and stop a revolution from destroying their capital city."

Bones grunted. "That doesn't sound too hard."

"All in a day's work, Bones." They ate for a while, discussing Georgianna. Then Jim put his spoon down and pinched his nose again as a tray clattered at the other end of the room.

Bones looked across the table at him in concern. "Are you okay?"

Jim gritted his teeth. "I think the meds you gave me wore off."

The older man frowned in surprise. "How did you – you know what, never mind. I don't really care." He sighed. "Do you need more?"

Jim breathed out in a steady hiss through his teeth, fighting against the torment in his skull as the mess hall's volume only seemed to increase. It took all his willpower to nod. He didn't want Bones to know how bad it was, but he was never going to be able to do anything like this.

Bones looked ruefully at his own half-finished plate before picking up Jim's and leading him back to his quarters.

When they arrived, Jim sat heavily on the bed, closing his eyes and hearing Bones put down the tray on his desk.

"Okay, here you go. I'm giving you a sedative too. No – don't complain. I know you haven't been sleeping enough. We've got a day, and you should be rested for this revolution thing."

Jim could hardly protest. He kicked off his shoes and lay calmly on the bed as the lights were turned low. He felt a prick at his neck, and drifted off.


	3. Chapter 3

The story's been pretty slow so far, but it picks up after this. Enjoy!

* * *

McCoy shook his head as he walked out of Jim's quarters for the second time that day. The kid could be too stubborn sometimes.

His thoughts drifted as he walked back to medical, mostly focused on the surgery he had performed on Ensign Frances Gerals and the summary he had just bothered to read on the mission they had been assigned. Gerals had been stupid enough to crawl around on a catwalk with no shoes on, and had slipped on a wet patch. Apparently she had removed her shoes on a dare earlier that day. She had fallen from the catwalk and punctured a lung. After getting her out of surgery, McCoy had made her promise to _wear her frickin' shoes, already_.

As for the mission, he had to say it looked more interesting than what they were doing at the moment. At the same time, he wasn't keen on anything that would certainly result in Jim's being hurt in some way. His friend had been stressed enough lately without this added hassle.

But then again, the action of simply going planet side would probably deal with a lot of that stress. Jim was strange that way. Anything that would make a normal man stress out – for example the hostage taking of an entire city by a revolutionary group – forced him to level his head and calmed him down. Tedious amounts of paperwork, on the other hand, would rocket those stress levels to unwanted highs. That's when Jim was his most annoying. Spock too. Even if he didn't want to admit it, the hobgoblin liked his bit of action.

But he had his own paperwork to deal with, no matter how badly he wanted to blow it off. He had to reorganize the distribution of the meds, check up on patients, and sign off on the requests for new procedures. It was gonna be a long day.

McCoy awoke abruptly to a knock on the door. He must have fallen asleep at his desk. He rubbed a hand over his face and groaned. But before he could answer the knock, the door opened and Jim skipped in, a grin on his face.

"Geez, Bones, were you sleeping?" He snorted, but his gaze was soft. "And here you are trying to tell me to take care of myself."

McCoy waved him off. "What doya want?" he slurred, his brain still trying to wake up. He reached for his ever present cup of coffee, but stopped before the mug reached his mouth, grimacing as he realized the drink was ice cold.

"We're a couple hours away from Georgianna. We're gonna send down a landing party to talk to the rebels, and I want you on it." Jim stuck his hands in his pockets and shifted his feet a little. "We can still deliver them the drugs they need. Actually, I've been thinking of using them as some kind of bribe for their cooperation."

McCoy's sleepy brain took a moment to digest that. "You want me down there?"

"Yeah, I just said that."

He sighed. Stopping rebellions wasn't exactly his idea of a good time. But he hadn't gone down anywhere for a while. He needed to stretch his legs, and this seemed like a pretty good opportunity. Plus, if Jim was gonna twist an ankle or something, it would be better if he was there to deal with it.

He nodded. "Alright."

Jim grinned again, his eyes sparkling. He looked surprisingly well rested. "Awesome! I'll see you in the transporter room in a few hours." With that he turned around and left the room.

McCoy sighed and turned back to his desk. He needed some coffee for this.

After getting said coffee and checking up once again on all three patients in sick bay, he heard another announcement over the comms with Jim's voice on the other end. It was time for the landing party. He grabbed his medkit and slung it over his shoulder, stuffing a few extra hypos in as he left medical. You could never be too careful.

Before he knew it he, Jim, Uhura, and two security guards – Unders, and Little – were being beamed down to the planet. As he felt the unnerving sensation of the transport, he strained his hands into fists and fought against a rising nausea.

_God, will I ever get over this? _

"Okay, the capitol city is right over that ridge," Jim said loudly to the group. "Keep your phasers out but don't harm anyone unless you have to. We don't want to scare them."

The ridge, which turned out to be the top of a hill overlooking the city, spread out in front of them the carnage of the revolution.

It was horrible.

Fires burned at every end of the city. Occasionally a gunshot rang out, or screams. Entire buildings seemed to have collapsed, perhaps from bombs. And surrounding the perimeter of the whole city were hundreds of guards, each armed with a rifle. They were keeping the city hostage.

McCoy felt the breath rush out of his lungs. No matter how much carnage he'd seen in his life, he could never get used to it.

He didn't expect Jim to fall to his knees in front of him.

Little rushed forwards, but Leonard was there first.

He put a hand on Jim's shoulder. The captain was already hoisting himself to his feet, brushing the dirt from his pants.

"I'm fine, Bones. I just – tripped." The party started moving down the hill towards the city.

"Jim," he warned.

Jim swallowed uncomfortably. "It just reminds me… I'm fine," he repeated, his face stony.

McCoy frowned, and looked back down at the city. Then it hit him. _Tarsus. _He turned back to Jim, but he was already halfway down the hill with the rest of the landing party.

Shaking his head, he followed them down.


	4. Chapter 4

Here we go... This chapter is from Uhura's POV, which I'm kind of worried about. Hopefully I didn't make her too weak. Anyway enjoy and please review!

* * *

The inside of the city was horrible.

They had reached the perimeter with no problem, and a group was waiting for them as Kabul had promised in their communication.

The streets were relatively deserted, save for the soldiers under Kabul's command and several survivors running from place to place. Several faces stared at them through windows as they passed.

Nyota fought the urge to gasp and bring a hand to her face when they reached the second block. Several dead bodies were decomposing on the side of the street, bugs fluttering around them. The takeover had obviously not been peaceful. She swallowed roughly, and looked around at the rest of the group. Unders looked green, and Little also looked like he was fighting the urge to lose his lunch. McCoy was looking around stony faced, only his eyes reflecting the horror he saw. Jim only stared at the bodies impassively for a moment, and then looked up again, motioning for their guard to keep moving.

The Central Palace was located in the center of the city, with gleaming white walls despite the ash swirling around it. Dark revolution flags were hanging over the usual red and yellow ones. The building was surrounded with even more guards. However, the inside of the building looked just as pristine as it would have when the city was under government control. That is, except for the throne that had been pushed to the ground and the bullet holes in several of the walls. It looked like the resistance didn't have the technology for phasers, and were using old-fashioned guns.

As they entered a back room, a man wearing a horrible satin gown stood up from his chair and gave them a small smile.

"Captain Kirk!" He greeted, spreading his arms wide. "Starfleet has come to us at last." With this comment came the noise of what sounded like someone holding something over their mouth while they screamed. Startled, Uhura looked around, her phaser drawn in front of her. The noise was coming from another corner of the room where a man was tied and gagged to a chair. Four guards stood around him. Kabul smiled wider. "Don't mind him; he's harmless."

"Kabul!" Kirk growled. "You told us you wouldn't harm him!"

"And he's perfectly unhurt. I don't play with my food, Captain."

Stunned, Nyota turned back to the man tied up in the chair. It must have been the king! She stepped closer to Jim, her heart beating loudly in her chest.

"You've really got something going here, don't you?" Jim asked, scowling. "How did you get this many people to join your crack haired scheme?"

"Now, now, Kirk, you cannot attribute all of this to me. I had help."

"Why would you admit that?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Kabul countered, his eyes glinting darkly. "Now you know there's one more person you should be concerned about."

"And who is this helper?" Jim asked.

"He'll show himself eventually," the resistance leader assured him. "Now, if you'll walk with me over to King Draken, I'd like to explain a few things to you."

The group followed cautiously. Nyota noted that Jim seemed to be checking over his shoulder every other moment now.

As they approached the King, the guards moved themselves away. Kabul placed a hand on Draken's shoulder, and the older man flinched violently, moaning from underneath his gag.

"You're right, Captain Kirk," Kabul began, "we do have a strong resistance. But for good reason." He paused. "I've worked hard all my life, as my father did before me, and his father before them. But all my family has ever managed to achieve is the development of a single farm outside of the city.

"Five years ago, there was a terrible famine here. All of our crops died, as did both of my parents. I lost all of my money, and my farm. But even as I lived on the streets of the capital, I was reassured. The king," he paused, shifting his hold on Draken's shoulder. "Had promised us that we would be protected, and that he would help us.

"But he never helped us. He sat in his palace and ate the fruits of our labors. So I helped myself, as did everyone else who supports me. We saw our chance for change and took it." He smiled. "And now, I am the one wearing the silk! We are the ones with the power for change! And we'll have it," he added darkly.

"Great story," Kirk countered. "Now can you tell us any real reasons to help you?"

Kabul's smile faded. "Yes, I think I can think of a few." Before anyone could react, even Jim, he had put a pistol to the King's temple, and a shot rang out. Draken's blood splattered against the floor, and against them.

Uhura unfroze herself a second after the others, and turned her phaser to the guards surrounding them. But there were many more there than the four that had been guarding the king. There had to be at least fifteen, all holding guns pointed at their heads.

Jim snarled, his own phaser directed at Kabul himself, who seemed unfazed.

"Captain, be careful," he warned. "If you want your friends to keep their brains off the floor, I'd recommend standing down. We're all excellent shots."

"Is this really how you want to act?" Jim tried, forcing his voice to calm. "We're trying to help you!"

Kabul chuckled. "Yes, I'm sure you are."

Suddenly a loud blast went off, and Uhura looked around frantically. One of the guards had been shot with a phaser. Seconds later, the sound of a gun fired off. Unders was lying on his back, blood streaming out of the back of his head. Nyota clapped a hand over her mouth, her gaze locked on the body.

Jim was white faced.

McCoy raced forwards and kneeled to check his pulse. Shaking his head, he yelled, "You fuckers! What did that do for you?"

"McCoy," Jim growled. "Be quiet."

"Now Captain," said Kabul, "Are you going to cooperate, or are you going to watch your team die?"

"You need us you little shit!" the captain roared. "What about the virus you and your planet are not immune to? You cooperate, we give you the drugs!"

Kabul looked at him impassively before shooting Little.

"Fuck!" Jim snarled. "Stand down, now!" He barked to the rest of them.

Uhura looked at him incredulously. He was giving up?

"Jim," McCoy growled, not dropping his weapon.

"Lower your weapon, doctor. That is an order."

Shaking with fury, his eyes darting between the two fallen soldiers, McCoy lowered his weapon to his side. Uhura did the same.

Almost immediately, the group closed in on them. In a flurry of almost unfollowable activity, the side of Kirk's head was hit by the butt of Kabul's gun. McCoy cried out, his hand stretching towards his friend. Uhura raced forwards, but hands grabbed her shoulders and arms and pulled her back roughly, securing her wrists in iron manacles. McCoy was likewise restrained.

They were going in opposite directions.

"Jim!" McCoy yelled, his face a mixture of hatred and anguish.

Jim didn't respond; his head lolling on his shoulders as a door slammed shut in front of him.

Uhura and McCoy were thrown into another cell, the iron door's clash seemingly condemning their fate.


	5. Chapter 5

Let the whump begin! This story is kind of going in a different direction that I thought it would, but hopefully it still turns out okay. I'm a little worried about this chapter, so please tell me what you think!

* * *

Jim awoke to a throbbing pain in the back of his head and the voices of several people floating above his head. He tried to move his arms up and grunted when he found they were tied to the table he was lying on. Realizing the situation he was in, his heart began to beat faster as the room came into focus.

Three men were standing around where he lay, and beyond them lay an open, bright room, with tables covered in an assortment of tools. He heard banging in another room and a hoarse voice calling his name.

"Bones!" he called out, damn the consequences.

The banging stopped for a moment before Bones yelled again, "Jim?"

Jim opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by a blow to his rib cage, rushing the air out of his lungs.

"Glad to know you're awake," the guy standing in the front said to him. His face was bearded.

"Jim!"

"This must be a little… stressful for you, I'd imagine." the Beard continued, "This not going as planned?" He brought another fist down on Jim's face and Jim couldn't help the groan that left his mouth.

Jim looked up at him coldly. "Actually," he told Beardy, spitting blood into the man's face, "This is going exactly how I thought."

Instead of getting mad, the Beard only laughed. "Good, good. I'm guessing you know what's coming next?"

Jim gritted his teeth but didn't respond.

"We've just got a couple things we'd like you to tell us about."

"I'm not telling you anything, you piece of shit."

Beard smiled. "We'll see." He reached for something on the table that looked like a kind of clamp. His heart racing, but face set in stone; Jim clenched his fists, trying his best to keep his fingernails away from the metal instrument. But try as he might, his captor opened his hand and attached the clamp to the end of his finger.

Pain flared white hot and seemed to radiate down his hand, but while he sweated, Jim said nothing.

Beard considered him for a moment before nodding to his companions, and before Jim could react a knife was sticking out of his arm.

That was when he screamed.

* * *

"Leonard, stop throwing yourself against that thing! The door's not moving. You'll just hurt yourself, and then what good would you be to Jim?"

McCoy turned to Uhura and glared at her. She flinched, but he was too worried about Jim and too angry with Starfleet to care. He rammed his body against the door for the fiftieth time and the metal shuddered slightly beneath him.

"Jim!" he called out. "Jim!"

He continued for what seemed like forever before hearing a muffled, "Bones!" The sound was coming from the room next to theirs. McCoy changed tactics and rammed his fists against the wall instead, trying to let Jim know that he was there.

"Jim!"

There was only silence, and McCoy's heart rate skyrocketed. He heard Uhura come up to the wall beside him and place an ear against it, listening for anything.

There were muted thumps of what sounded like punches. "Jim!"

Suddenly a raw scream pierced the air, and McCoy's heart froze in his chest.

"No," he breathed.

The next few hours were torture, even if he wasn't the one with Kabul's thugs.

He screamed Jim's name as the young captain yelled and cursed. Over time, both men's calls grew quieter – McCoy's throat was dry as parchment, and the doctor didn't want to know what Jim was going through.

Uhura sat white faced and tight-lipped the entire time, her arms wrapped around her chest.

Finally, the yells tapered off completely and McCoy heard a shuffling at the door. Jim was thrown in without ceremony. McCoy rushed forwards just in time to keep Jim's head from bashing the floor.

He looked horrible. His shoulder looked disjointed; three fingernails were missing from his hands; his left arm was bent unnaturally; and blood poured from both a cut through his arm and one in his stomach.

He heard Uhura gasp as she landed on Jim's other side, and felt similarly.

McCoy put his hands around his friends face and Jim's eyes fluttered open, their lashes stained with blood.

"'Ones" he breathed.

"I'm here, Jim. I'm not gonna let them take you back, I promise." He quickly tore the sleeves from his shirt and tied them around both wounds, which rapidly stained with his blood. Jim gritted his teeth as McCoy wrapped the broken bone tightly, trying to keep it stable.

Jim chuckled and McCoy was horrified to see blood bubble on his lips. "He doesn't even fucking want anything."

"What d'you mean?"

"They said… they wanted something. They didn't ask… a single question."

Leonard's heart throbbed. "We'll get out of this Jim."

"It's my fucking fault."

"Don't say that!"

Jim inhaled deeply, his breath rattling. "You wouldn't be here – I didn't think –"

"Stop, Jim! This isn't your fault, goddamnit!"

McCoy almost didn't believe his eyes when he saw Jim pushing himself to his feet. "What are you doing!? There's a hole in your gut for Christ's sake!"

"We… need to get out of here."

"No shit, Sherlock."

"Wait, stop!" It was the first time Uhura had spoken since Jim had come into the room, and both men turned towards her. "What is that?" she asked, her voice small. She pointed to Jim's back.

McCoy sped around to look at what she was talking about and frowned at what he saw. A small metal circle was attached to Jim's neck, protruding slightly from the skin. He prodded it gently and Jim fell to his knees, biting his lip to hold back a scream.

"Jim? What is it?"

"It hurts you stupid shit," Jim bit out, but McCoy ignored him.

"What the hell?" he muttered. "This thing looks like it goes deep. I can't just pull it out. It could be going all the way down to the bone."

"What the hell is it?" Jim asked desperately.

"I don't know! Do you remember them putting it in?"

"No! I was too busy thinking about the knife in my gut." As if on cue, Jim's face turned stark white and he brought his good arm up to his chest. McCoy raced forwards to support him before he fell and gently lowered him to the ground again.

"Jesus Jim, be careful. You'll only hurt yourself more."

Uhura walked up closer to Jim to look at the piece of metal and said carefully, "It looks like some kind of communications device. That symbol there is something you see on a lot of communications hard drives."

"Well what is it doing in my neck!?"

"I…" Uhura stopped, her already pale face draining. "But that's impossible," she breathed.

"_What? _What is?" McCoy demanded.

Nyota swallowed nervously and looked at both McCoy and Kirk. "I – I think they're trying to connect to his brain."


	6. Chapter 6

Okay so this is like really short but I felt like it was better than nothing. More whump coming soon, I promise!

* * *

There was silence before Jim said, "What?"

"You heard me. I said they're trying to connect to your brain!" Uhura shook her head. "I've seen this once before, when we were studying at the academy. But they weren't successful."

"You're saying that thing's plugged into his brain?" Bones asked incredulously.

"Yes. I – I mean, it might not be. You never know."

Jim's eyes were wide, and he was frozen for a moment before pushing away again from Bones. A gentle hand stopped him before he could move much, but he pushed that away as well and rose slowly, Bones cursing him as he went. His whole body ached, and it felt like fires were burning in his stomach and his arm. Why the fuck they had bothered to rough him up in the first place was beyond him. Obviously with this brain thing they would be able to get anything they wanted from him.

He took a stepped forward and stumbled a bit. New pain erupted in his chest and he put a stabilizing hand on the wall, his eyes swimming.

Bones was on him in an instant. "Jim?"

"I'm fine, Bones."

"Like hell you are. But there's nothing I can do about that is there?"

Not for the first time, guilt rose in Jim's chest. He shouldn't have brought Bones along. It had been a selfish thing, really, and now his friend was paying the price.

He pulled in a long breath and settled his feet. Time to get this done. He approached the metal door and felt his fingers along the edge. The door was thick and solid as a rock, and there was barely a crack between the door and the wall. The lock was on the other side, and there was nothing but blank metal on their side. He punched the door in frustration, then immediately regretted it.

"Not gonna work, kid," Bones said solemnly. "I tried hard enough trying to get to you."

Jim looked into his eyes for a moment and then away. He knew Bones hated it when he was hurt. But it's not like he could very often prevent it. No matter what people said, he didn't go looking for trouble. Trouble came looking for him.

Suddenly there were sounds behind the door, and Jim stepped back quickly into his friend.

The door opened and light framed four figures: Kabul, one of the thugs that had been in the other room with Jim, and two other armed guards.

"Captain," said the man in the middle, Kabul. "Come with us."

Bones growled. "So you call him captain and then cut him with a knife. How civilized."

"As is your demeanor, doctor. Now come, Kirk."

"Like hell he's going with you!" Bones stepped in front of him and spread his arms.

Kabul nodded one of the guards, and, faster than Jim's weakened body could respond, the doctor was pushed hard against the wall. His head hit the metal roughly and he slid to the ground senseless.

"Bones!" he cried, reaching forwards at the same time Uhura raced to the doctor. Hands grabbed him round the middle and he could only hear Uhura yelling profanities at them before the door closed loudly.

"We've got a Vulcan to talk to," Kabul growled.

"Fuck you."

"Now, now, Kirk. Be civil."

"You start."

They stopped in front of a view screen and Kabul left Jim a bit out of view. He nodded to another soldier and Spock's face appeared on the screen.

Jim's heart thudded in his chest and he struggled against the hold of his captives to be seen. He was held back, and a hand covered his mouth to keep him from crying out.

"Commander Spock."

"Fathigh Kabul. Where is the Captain?"

Kabul looked back at Jim and gave him a small smile, and without knowing why, Jim's heart froze in his chest. This wasn't going to be good.


	7. Chapter 7

So yeah, another short kind of update. But new things are coming next chapter! he he he... Enjoy!

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"Chekov, have you received any transmissions from the landing party recently?" Spock asked, turning towards the ensign.

"No, sir." Chekov shook his head. "I've been working on that. Their transmissions have been out for several minutes now. I assumed it at first to be a technical glitch on our side, but after reviewing the data I think it's their communicators that are the problem."

"What do you believe is the cause?"

"Well, my first guess would be some kind of inclement weather on the planet, but there is none where they are, so that means they're either deep underground or… their communicators have been destroyed," he finished hesitantly.

Terrible possibilities flashed through Spock's mind, but he pushed them away. "Can you confirm either of those theories?"

"… Yes sir. Based on the location they were at just before the communicators went offline, it would be impossible for them to descend as far as they would need to in less than a second." He paused. "It must be the communicators."

"Very well," Spock replied stiffly before turning to the communication's officer subbing in for Nyota. "Officer Johannes, contact Kabul."

That moment, Kabul himself appeared onscreen.

"Sir, that wasn't me," Johannes warned.

"Noted."

"Commander Spock," greeted Kabul.

"Fathigh Kabul," Spock replied coldly. "Where is the captain?"

Kabul looked to the side before turning back to him. "Oh, Kirk and I had a lovely chat."

"Why did you destroy their communicators?"

"You know about that?" Kabul asked. "Huh. Well, when I say chat…"

Spock had to hold back a growl. "What have you done?"

"Let's just say that the captain is unable to speak with you at the moment, as he is unable to speak."

It was all Spock could do to keep from yelling at the man. "You must know that this action has permanently barred you from entering the federation. Neither will we deliver the vaccine for your city or the delithium with you had previously asked for. Now I order you to return the entirety of the landing party or will be forced to take violent action against you."

Kabul nodded. "Well put, Mr. Spock." He suddenly looked to his left and gave a small smile. "I guess I was wrong. He does care." Nodding, he added, "Here is your captain for you."

The bridge crew watched as Kirk was pulled into their view.

"Captain," Spock said in alarm. Jim looked awful. His face was badly bruised, and blood covered his arm and the front of his shirt.

The captain spoke quickly. "Spock, whatever happens, don't – " He suddenly doubled over as a punch hit him in the chest.

Kabul's eyes glinted coldly. "As you can see, your captain is in a quite perilous situation, as are the other 15,000 people living here in this city. The offer still stands. To put it simply: give us what we want, and we won't blow everyone up. You have one day."

The transmission cut off and the bridge crew looked around at each other warily. Spock's heart raced in his chest, thinking of their trapped crew, but outwardly he was perfectly composed. It was important at this point to let the crew think he had control of this situation.

He turned to the communications officer. "Johannes, contact Mr. Scott and tell him his presence is needed on the bridge. He will have the conn while I, along with Sulu, Jeffersons, Hanfred, and Guiders, beam down to the planet.

"Sir?" Sulu questioned.

"We are not going to let the rebels take the city. It seems almost necessary at this point that direct action is necessary," Spock responded. Sulu nodded. "We depart in four hours. Chekhov, we will need a scan of their city streets and terrain. Send them to my PADD. I need to review the particulars. Sulu, alert Jeffersons, Hanfred, and Guiders of our plan, gather your materials, and meet me at the transport room in four hours."

"Yes sir," Sulu stood, leaving the bridge.

"I have sent the scans to you, sir," Chekhov told him, and Spock nodded.

He would need to think about this. Too much depended on its success.

He stood and left the bridge, mind swirling with possible scenarios as he made his way to his quarters.


	8. Chapter 8

Hi! I'm back! Yeah... it's been a while, but I had exams and then my muse kind of ran and hid. Hopefully it's back to stay! Enjoy this chapter and please review! It helps a lot :D

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Four hours later, the five officers were gathered in the transporter room, aware of what they were about to attempt but somewhat hesitant about what the results would be.

They beamed to a similar spot as the one the original landing party had beamed down to. It was the same distance from the city limits, but their spot was more shrouded in trees, brush, and shade, so they would not be easily spotted by the guards.

Spock looked at each of the officers by his side before moving forwards through the trees without a sound. In his right hand he held his phaser, and his left grasped a map of the city, though he had already memorized their route. With the scans of the city they had discovered a patch of land with relatively few guards and plenty of narrow streets for them to hide in as they made their way to the palace. There, they would enter the building through a disguised side entrance, take down the threat, and release Kirk, McCoy, and Uhura from their cell. It sounded simple on paper, but Spock knew it would be more difficult to execute.

He was of course aware of the fact that his plan was going to be prone to failure. However, it was the best he could come up with under the circumstances. For some reason he wasn't able to concentrate back in his quarters, his mind constantly flickering back to the image of his friend's bloodied face.

As Jim would say, they were going to need a lot of luck.

The group reached the edge of the forested area and Spock held up a hand to stop the others, though he knew he didn't really need to. Ten feet away stood three guards, and Spock was surprised to see that they weren't looking into the forest, or even doing much guarding at all. Each held their guns in their hands, but they were pointed towards the ground. They were huddled together in a small group, talking animatedly, looking towards the city every so often.

Then suddenly they began making their way to the forest, sprinting into the cover of the trees. Alarmed, Spock signaled to his men to stun them once they came any closer. There would be less chance of Kabul discovering them if the guards were killed, but for some reason Spock suspected the three would not be returning to the city even once they woke up.

It happened fast.

The three soldiers broke into the cover of the forest, and before any of them knew what was happening, they were all down on the ground, out cold.

Without speaking again, Spock raced through the uncovered territory and into the city. He stopped just beyond the entrance, waiting for the others to come in after him.

Then they were off, racing through side streets and alleyways with help from the map as they made their way to the palace. They were almost there when there was a slight problem. One side street they had planned to use to make it to the entrance had caved in from the bombings, and was completely unpassable. The only other way to get to their entrance was to use the square: a large, open area. There they could easily be spotted from the palace.

"We'll have to go through the square," Noted Sulu.

Spock nodded. "Move as quickly as possible. We only have to cross ten meters before there is another entrance to this same alley. There, we can enter the palace through the side."

The others nodded their heads and they turned back a little ways to find the way into the square.

What they saw when they entered nearly knocked them off their feet.

They had seen bodies on the way, of course, dozens lining the streets and huddled in the dark places. But this was much worse.

In the middle of the square were hundreds of poles, each with a body tied to them. And right at the front was Fathigh Kabul.

Spock's mind reeled. How was this possible? They had only spoken to Kabul a few hours ago, and when they had the entire situation seemed locked within his grip. If he was dead, who had killed him? Who was in control now? And most importantly, what had happened to Uhura, Kirk, and Doctor McCoy?

Spock heard Sulu gag behind him, but continued onwards. They needed to be out of sight before they discussed this.

They reached the next entrance to the alley in no time and were only able to hope that they had not been spotted. Immediately Spock stopped and turned to the others. Sulu spoke first.

"That was Kabul!" He exclaimed. "What's going on?"

"I do not know," Spock replied.

"Maybe it was some kind of counter-rebellion?" Jeffersons ventured.

"But where would they get the men for that kind of a slaughter? And why are the bodies tied up?"

"Jesus, those men we saw earlier must not have been running for us, they must have been trying to get away!"

"What do we do?"

Spock thought for a moment, and looked up. "Our main priority is still to recover the away team. However, it appears we must move cautiously. There is no way to know whether the people who killed Kabul are friend or foe. Lieutenant Sulu, contact the _Enterprise_ and tell them of the recent events. Ask them to contact the palace and see who responds. For now we will have to wait here. We cannot go in without any further knowledge of the situation."

"Aye sir," Sulu replied, pulling out his communicator and stepping away from the group. The others nodded their agreement.

A minute later, Sulu jogged back over. "Sir, I can't reach the _Enterprise. _I don't know what's happening but somehow the signal's being jammed."

"Then we have no choice," Spock said. "We need to enter the palace. Since we don't know about their situation, only use stun. We –" He stopped suddenly as he spotted someone over Sulu's shoulder. The group turned, their weapons aimed at the intruder.

However, as the soldier approached, Spock recognized him. He was filthy and covered in blood, but he still wore the gold captain's uniform.

"Captain?" Spock said softly.

The gun in Kirk's hand didn't falter, and Spock noted that his eyes were dull and lifeless.

The men beside him were looking to Spock for guidance, sure that their captain must be under the effects of some sort of drug, or perhaps a serious head injury. Spock was not so sure. This seemed more sinister than even that.

Before anyone could react, Kirk shot Sulu in the arm. He cried out and fell to the ground, his good arm flying to cover the area. Blood streamed from the wound, and the Lieutenant ground his teeth in pain.

Spock only looked at his captain in horror.

Kirk spoke, but when he did it seemed forced. "Come with me or the next time I shoot it'll be at your heads."

Jeffersons pulled the trigger on his phaser and the beam hit Kirk squarely in the chest. However, the captain didn't fall, and only swayed slightly before shooting Jeffersons between the eyes.

"Like I said, come with me. There's lot's we need to discuss."


	9. Chapter 9

Here's a long one for ya. Tell me what you think of where I went with this - this wasn't what I was going to do originally, but it seemed like a better choice then what I had in mind. Anyway, R/R and enjoy!

* * *

Two_ Hours Earlier_

Leonard came to with a vague sense that something was terribly wrong. His head throbbed, telling him that he must have some kind of concussion, and he groaned.

"Leonard! Thank God, you're awake," he heard. That sounded like Uhura. What was going on?

Suddenly it all came back to him. He bolted upright, immediately regretting that decision two seconds later. He groaned again and put a hand up to his head. Uhura was leaning over him, looking worried.

"What – where's Jim?" He asked, trying to think over the throbbing in his skull. Slowly the pain diminished and he turned to Uhura. She glanced over to the other side of the room, where Jim was lying on his back, his eyes closed. "Jim!" McCoy raced over to his friend and put two fingers on his neck, ignoring the banging in his head. He felt a pulse and fell back on his heels, relieved. "What happened?" he asked Uhura.

She swallowed. "Well when they came to get Jim again they knocked you out. Your head hit the wall there. I'm not quite sure how long they were gone, but he's been back for a while now, out cold. You've both at least been out for a few hours."

McCoy's eyebrows creased in concern as he looked down at his friend. With each rattling break Jim took, more blood bubbled up on his lips. It was probable that a rib had punctured his lung, since the knife gash was too far down to have caused that. The doctor's hands fluttered over Jim's body, for the first time in a long time not knowing what to do to help. He didn't have his medkit with him, so he was limited to what he could do with his hands. He gently pressed down on Kirk's stomach, cringing when he felt the rigidity that signaled internal bleeding. He would do anything for a medkit right now.

Suddenly steeling himself, McCoy untied the already blood soaked "bandage" from Jim's stomach and turned him onto his side, watching as the buildup of blood poured out of his side.

"What are you doing? He's bleeding more!" Uhura asked, kneeling down next to McCoy.

"His abdomen's filling up with blood. I have to get it out somehow, and it might as well be when he's unconscious." McCoy looked down at his hands, which were covered in dirt and grime and blood and who knew what else. "Shit."

"What?"

The doctor shook his head. "This isn't sterile at all. Who knows what kind of infection he could get from this."

Uhura frowned. "If you need to do it, do it. Whatever's on you is probably already in the wound."

"Yeah that doesn't exactly make me feel better." McCoy sighed. "I guess I don't have a choice." _Let's just hope he doesn't wake up to this_, he begged silently. Taking a deep breath, he stuck two fingers into the wound and started to scoop out the excess blood that hadn't already come out.

When he finished he slid Jim onto his back again and ripped another few strips from his uniform for a new bandage. Jim was still out cold, though his pulse had increased, signaling he was still feeling the pain.

McCoy wiped his hands off on his pants and then put his face in his palms. "Goddamnit, why does this always happen to us?"

Uhura put a hand on his shoulder gently. "He's going to be fine, Leonard. We're going to get out of this, okay?"

Suddenly McCoy noticed the rattling breaths from below them had stopped. His eyes widening, he leaned down over his friend, listening carefully for breath sounds. There were none. He put his fingers on Jim's neck and cursed. "Shit, he's got no pulse! Uhura, help me!"

Uhura scrambled to Jim's other side as McCoy started compressions on Jim's chest.

"Don't you dare do this, Jim," he hissed angrily, accentuating each word on each compression. He paused as Uhura knelt down to breathe for him. "Come on, you can't leave us like this!" McCoy didn't even know what he was without Jim. Surely he was alive purely to keep Jim breathing. If he couldn't even do that, what was he? His gut twisted savagely and his heart raced, unable to face the undesirable outcome here. Sure, he had lost patients before, and even his own father. But Jim was different. "Come _on_," He yelled, cringing as he felt Jim's ribs shift beneath his hands.

Then Jim's eyes flew open and he took a gasping breath. McCoy could've cried in relief. "Jim, thank God." His friend's eyes darted around the room, never landing on anything for more than a second. McCoy leaned over Jim's chest and grabbed his chin, forcing his to look in his eyes. "Jim, you're okay. You're with us." Jim's eyes settled, but his face remained curiously blank. "Jim?" The normally bright blue eyes seemed unfocused and unseeing.

McCoy started as Jim pushed him back and began to stand. "Jim, hold up! Lay back down, you're going to hurt yourself more, you stupid idiot! You just stopped breathing, goddamnit!"

Jim ignored him and stood, only turning back to him when he was fully upright, his face still blank. His mouth opened and closed strangely, as if he was trying to speak but couldn't. McCoy's heart raced – Jim hadn't been out for that long, surely there couldn't be brain damage? He put an arm on his friend's shoulder. "Jim, can you hear me? Are you okay?"

Then he was on the ground, Jim's knee in his chest. McCoy heard a gasp from Uhura. "Leonard, his neck!" McCoy looked around and his heart dropped into his stomach as he saw a little blinking red light.

"They activated it," he said brokenly.

"Yes, we did," Jim – or Jim's body – said, releasing McCoy. His voice was flat and devoid of emotion, so unlike the real Jim.

"Kabul, stop this you crazy bastard!" McCoy growled. It felt really weird to be talking to Jim and yet knowing it wasn't Jim.

"Let him go!" Uhura yelled, clenching her fists.

Jim laughed mechanically. "This isn't Kabul. I'm afraid there's been a bit of a turnover. Or at least, there will be."

"What?" McCoy frowned. "Who the fuck are you, then?"

A creepy smile formed on Jim's face. "Let's just say I've been working towards this moment for a long time. Little Jimmy's always been my greatest prize. And he sure remembers me, don't you Jimmy?" Jim's arm came up and patted his own head.

McCoy blanched and backed up a few paces. This wasn't good. In fact, it was worse than he could have imagined before. There were only a few people who would call Jim "Jimmy." He was one of them, but all the others were bloodthirsty bastards from Jim's past. "Kodos?" he asked shakily.

"No," the voice responded, and McCoy breathed a sigh of relief. But then Jim's controller continued. "Close though. Right forest, wrong tree."

_Shit_. McCoy cursed silently. So whoever this was, they had been on Tarsus with Jim.

Uhura turned to him, her face a mask of confusion. "Kodos?" her eyes widened. "Are you saying –?"

"Not now, Uhura," McCoy cut her off sharply.

"Ah, he didn't tell you?" Jim's body turned to face Uhura. Whoever was controlling seemed to be getting better at it by the second. Expression was making its way into Jim's voice. If the real Jim was in there somewhere, he was too weak to do anything. "Little Jimmy here was on Tarsus IV with me during the massacre. It's a touchy subject for him, I can see."

"Get out of his memories, you fuck!" McCoy cursed.

Jim's face turned his glare on him. "Jim's got quite a soft spot you, doctor. But whatever you think, he doesn't trust you, not completely. And he never will."

"Stop it!" McCoy growled, his heart twisting.

"Ah, but it's true. Now, I've got some things to accomplish, so if you'll excuse me." Jim turned to the door and knocked on it four times, the last one louder than the rest. The prison door opened and they were met with the glare of the late afternoon sun. "Kabul!" Jim called out.

The bastard was still sitting in his chair in the middle of the room. His eyes widened and he pointed to Jim. "What is he doing out of his cell!? Restrain him!" he ordered, but none of the soldiers moved. Kabul's face twisted and he looked around frantically. "Shoot him!" he ordered desperately.

Jim's arm reached out towards a soldier, who gave him his gun. "Oh, this is gonna be fun." A shot rang out and hit Kabul squarely between the eyes.

At the sound of the shot a group of soldiers raced in, their guns out and their gazes narrowing in on their fallen leader. But Jim, or whoever was controlling him, was faster. He shot wave after wave of soldiers as they came into the room, switching guns with other soldiers when he ran out of bullets. When the barrage was over, Jim didn't have another scratch on him.

"Damn, he's good!" Jim's mouth said, smiling a little. He turned the soldiers who seeed to be following his command. "Tie them –" he gestured towards Uhura and McCoy " – Up over there. They'll want to see this show, I'm sure. And tie these bodies up in the square. Let's make a statement."

Soldiers hurried around, dragging bodies out of the building and out into the palace square.

McCoy grunted as a soldier grabbed him from behind and brought him over to a set of chairs along with Uhura. Rough ropes bound them tightly to the furniture, and as the doctor tried to move he found the chair itself was attached to the floor.

Jim made his way over to the two of them. "I can see why you like him so much. Very handy in a fight, this one."

McCoy frowned. "Are you saying –?"

"Yup. That was all him." Suddenly Jim groaned and brought a hand up to his head.

McCoy's heart raced. Could Jim be fighting against whoever was controlling him? Was that even possible?

The moment was over as suddenly as it began, and the controller didn't even mention it. "Now, I'm sure you're dying to know who I am."

McCoy and Uhura didn't respond.

The controller continued anyway. "I met little Jimmy when he first arrived on Tarsus. I brought him to Kodos' house was with him for many of his lessons. And, of course, I was there after the famine began, and I was there for Jimmy's…" he paused, smiling a little. "treatment. Or should I say torture?"

The blood in McCoy's face rushed to his feet and he struggled against his bonds. "You sick bastard! Stop this!"

The voice continued as if McCoy hadn't said anything. "I was Kodos' helper, you could say. I pretended to be Jim's – or as he was known, "JT"'s – friend. And Jimmy was always Kodos' pet, but that didn't mean I didn't see the potential. After Starfleet came I ran, and I've watched him grow ever since. This rebellion seemed like the perfect opportunity. I had been developing this little puppy," he patted the back of his neck, where the controlling device was. "I assume you know what it does at this point. Unfortunately you can only control one person at a time, which is why I had to kill all those soldiers. Jim is in my control, which is something Kodos himself never accomplished. It's also the perfect human shield, if you will." He smiled. "You'd never hurt your dear captain, would you?"

McCoy growled.

"He never figured out I'd been helping Kodos." He chuckled. "But he sure knows now."

"Who are you?" Uhura asked angrily.

"My name," he replied, "Is Thomas Leighton."

McCoy's eyes widened. "No," he breathed. Leighton was a crew member of the _Enterprise_! Anger stirred in McCoy's gut. "How could you do this to him? He's helped you out all this time – he thought you were his friend!"

"Like I said – he never found out. And here we are."

"But where are you, really?" Uhura asked.

Leighton frowned. "Now why would I tell you that?"

"Sir!" a soldier called from across the room. Leighton turned to face him. "There's a group of Starfleet soldiers coming this way! We just saw them in the square – they're coming around to the side entrance!"

"Well I'll meet them there."

"Do you need backup?"

"No, I'll be fine on my own. JT's got quite the aim, even with a hole in his gut."

He turned and left the building, bringing a gun with him and leaving McCoy and Uhura in stunned silence behind him.


	10. Chapter 10

Leonard McCoy was not happy. Granted, he hadn't exactly expected much from this silly expedition. When Jim Kirk was involved, you learned to expect the worst, however much McCoy disliked that fact. So he wasn't entirely surprised that their rescue had ended up get captured themselves.

"Spock," he greeted as the first officer was tied up in a chair next to his.

The Vulcan's eyes slid over to the doctor, and McCoy could clearly see his confusion and worry. _Emotionless my ass._

"Doctor," he ventured once Jim – no, Leighton, Thomas _fucking_ Leighton – had left the room for a moment. "What has happened to the captain? And to Kabul?"

"It's a long story."

"Well, please, enlighten me," Spock added with gritted teeth.

Uhura stepped in; leaning forwards a little to better see her boyfriend. "It's bad, Spock. There's some kind of mind control device in his brain. Kirk has no control over his actions." Hearing this the other members of the team leaned in as well, Sulu with some difficulty McCoy noticed. He seemed to have been shot in the arm. The rest of them also looked pale and shocked, and McCoy distractedly wondered what exactly had happened outside.

"Who is controlling him?" It didn't really surprise McCoy that Spock had no trouble accepting the existence of the device.

"Thomas Leighton – he's a researcher on the _Enterprise._" At this there were looks of shock, and then rising anger.

"Are you certain?" Spock asked.

"That's who he declared himself to be. There could be a chance it's not him, of course."

McCoy shook his head. "No, Leighton makes the most sense really." He paused before continuing. Uhura, Sulu, and Spock already knew of Jim's time on Tarsus, but the others didn't. He decided to continue anyway. "He was there with Jim on Tarsus, and there's no way anyone else would know that much of what happened."

"This is about Tarsus?" Sulu asked, his voice surprisingly strong despite his injury.

Uhura nodded. "Yes.I'm still confused why he has such a grudge against Jim, but it has something to do with Tarsus. Whatever happened, Leighton's been planning this for a long time. He designed a sort of mind control device, which he's using on Kirk. They implanted it in the back of his neck."

McCoy cut in here. "It's all the way down to his spine – there's no way I could get it out safely without surgery."

Spock nodded gravely as Uhura continued. "From the way he was talking about it, Leighton has full control of Jim's body, but Jim's skills can still be called upon, like his ability at hand to hand and his aim."

McCoy looked once again at the first officer. "Whatever we do, we've got to do it fast. Jim's body was already weakened before Leighton took over – if he could feel any of that pain right now he'd be unconscious."

"Yes, Jeffersons attempted to stun the captain – Leighton – just now, but his body was not affected," Spock said.

"So even if we get out of these restraints, we can't just stun him? Do you think sedatives would work?" McCoy wondered.

"I wouldn't bet on it," Sulu replied, shifting his position and gritting his teeth.

Uhura looked back at Spock. "Spock – you've melded with Jim before – is it possible that you could do something? Like… help him take his mind back or something?"

"I don't know," Spock intoned. "It is highly possible that in attempting to reach Jim's mind, I would encounter Leighton's instead." He paused, looking up at their guards, who now had their backs turned on the group. "However, our first objective should be stabilizing our situation."

Sulu nodded. "We can't be much help if we're tied up here, now can we?"

McCoy looked down at the ropes covering his chest. "Hey, Spock –"

"All of you – shut your traps!" Jim's voice carried over the space as he entered the room once more. "Now, you may be wondering what you're still doing here. You know, why I didn't kill you. Well, that's because Jimmy has a very important choice to make." He chuckled softly. "You know, it's amazing to finally be at this point. To have the powerful James Kirk in my fist… I almost don't know what to do with myself."

"How 'bout let us go you fucking bastard," McCoy growled.

Leighton nodded serenely. "That may be happening very soon." Everyone's eyes raised in shock. "Or you could be blown up. It's all up to Jim."

McCoy scowled. "And what do'you think he'll choose?" he asked sarcastically. He kind of understood now why Jim always egged his captors on. It gave a kind of control to the situation.

Jim's shoulders shrugged. He looked up at the guards. "Get these people in the truck, and we'll find out just which side little Jimmy's really on. Who knows? You might just be surprised."

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So yeah. This one's kind of short, but I'm debating which direction I'm going to go from here. Please feel free to give any suggestions you may have, or point out any plot points I might have forgotten about along the way.

Minecraft Guardiansaiyan - I might not use that exactly, but you've certainly given me ideas, so thanks!

I also wanted to thank everyone that started following or have favorited this story. I was only writing the story I thought would be fun to hear, so it's awesome to know others want to hear it too!

So thanks, and please remember to review!


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